Morality in This Era

                   The world’s perspective about social issues has changed over a period of time. Some believe the level of morality in the society has experienced a drastic change. Whether this change is positive or negative, society can still be applauded for its dynamism. For a 21st century man or woman, an analysis of the past and present with regards to the magnitude of what we deem today as negative can give us an estimation of the amount of change that has taken place. From the viewpoint of one living in this era, it is quite obvious that society has become less moral since the 1600’s. In the 21st century, pornography, rape and abortion just to name a few are areas which can be blamed for this decline in morality. In those years, one could argue that morality was declining but at the same time there is no doubt to the fact that it has taken a nosedive since the beginning of the 21st century. In the 1600’s even though, pornography might had been done in a different form, records of its use and existence cannot be compared to that in contemporary times. In this modern day “the statistics on today’s porn use are staggering, A Huffington Post headline announced in 2013 that ‘porn sites get more visitors each month than Netflix,Amazon and Twitter  combined’ and one of the largest free porn sites in the world,Youporn,streamed six times the bandwidth of Hulu in 2013.Pornhub,another major free porn site,boasted that in 2015 it received 21.2 billion visits and streamed 75GB of data a second, which translates to to enough porn to fill the storage in around 175 million GB iPhones” (Washington post 2016). Pornograpghy has had a huge influence on the morals of our society today. It affects viewers psychologically, destroy marriages and distorts sexuality. There are so many people involved in the pornorgraphy industry today including people from all walks of life. Men, women, the young, the old, middle aged are all spending time and money on pornography. People are not shy to admit their addiction to pornography, neither do they feel the obligation to uphold societal values.

        There is no doubt morality back in the day wasn’t perfect. In history, humans have done a great job in presenting what seems right in the eyes of society leaving behind those that might be considered unacceptable. Sometimes, immorality goes on without the knowledge of the custodians in the society who fight to keep it. In THE SCARLET LETTER, there was a level of immorality in the Puritan society. Mistress Hibbins confesses that “many a church member saw i, walking behind the music, that has danced in the same measure with me” (Hawthorne 221). There were many people who lived in the pious Puritan society but were still involved in witchcraft. These were people who pretended to be righteous but in reality weren’t righteous. This is just an indication that there were cracks of immorality in the social system even  at that time. While this fact is undeniable, the level of immorality in those days was  limited as compared to that of  the present day.

                         There are so many devastating acts going on today in schools,especially in colleges. In the 1600’s, because people involved in rape cases were either hanged, condemned or punished severely, there were only a few of them. The figures of people involved in dating violence has skyrocketed in current times. These statistics speak for themselves , as according to the Christian Science Monitor “ one in four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus. Between 15 and 30 percent of college women have been victims of acquaintance rape at some point in their lives” ( Christian Science Monitor 2011). It is no longer safe to fully express yourself as a woman in college through your sense of fashion or who you desire to hang out with. Many people walk with fear in the nights in colleges and even in our neighbourhoods. As the number of rape cases in our society increase, it does nothing but tanish the image of the society. It sends negative signals to the younger generation who can either adopt this as the new normal or have their confidence thrashed. People especially ladies are scared so hang out with guys in the evening or in quiet places. This is sometimes given to them as an advice by their parents and this shows how  bad the level of immorality has soared in our society. It is clearly  shown from the accounts given in THE SCARLET LETTER  that even those who were involved in acts of immorality didn’t have enough courage to do it in public light, but it is easier for a 21st century man to make sexual remarks or pass them in public and not feel bad about it since it has become commonplace.

         It is quite obvious that some people belong to the school of thought which says morality today is better compared to that in the 1600’s. A reference to disprove this fallacy can be drawn from a variety of  sources. While these sources might argue for the increase in morality today, accounts in THE SCARLET LETTER disprove this notion. Religion and law were almost the same back in the day and prevented people from choosing to follow one. Everyone in the society served as a check on each other. Based on this, no matter highly people praise today’s morality, one can argue that  “in either case, there was very much the solemnity of demeanor on the part of  the spectators;as befitted a people amongst whom religion and law were almost identical, and in whose character both were thoroughly interfused, that the mildest and the severest act of public discipline  were alike made venerable and awful” (Hawthorne 45). In most societies in the 1600’s, since religion was tied to the law it made people who broke religious vows at the same time had automatically violated the law. This instilled a higher standard of morality in the society.The Puritan society gathered to watch the punishment of Hester who has committed adultery.  Even though there are several disadvantages with such a system, one can argue that it lifts the standard of morality in the society. In this age, most people hide behind the comfort of democracy to do all sort of immoral things.

                     Democracy offers  many rights and liberties but has been misconstrued by some people resulting in the dip in morality in  society today. The legalisation of abortion has made the society less moral because some people misuse the right. For example the, “US abortion law makes many countries in Europe look like pro-life radicals”(Los Angeles Times 2016). Abortion can sometimes be the same as murder when it is done deliberately or not prescribed by a health practitioner. In today’s society, many people commit abortion whenever they feel like because there are laws that permit them. Many people now do not care about the consequences of unprotected sex because there is a way out in case of pregnancy.

          There were times even before the 1600’s when immorality was seen in the society; besides, everyone is liable to sin at some point in time.THE CRUCIBLE offers some circumstances where the imperfections of the 1600’s are seen. In Salem, so many people were prosecuted for engaging in witchcraft. There are always times people are going to do wrong. In the history of the world, there has not been any society that has been successful in establishing a utopia. Evidence to this point is given in THE CRUCIBLE when an honorable Reverend John said “ I think not, or you should surely know that Cain were an upright man, and yet he did kill Abell”(Miller 91). It implies that a man can be righteous yet sin. Does the fact that Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale in THE SCARLET LETTER committed adultery with Hester mean he has been rendered unrighteous for life even if he repents? In the Bible Cain killed his brother Abel at the time when morality in the world was almost perfect.        

                 Immorality has always existed in society,but the difference between then and now is the frequency at which is happens.  It is true that there can never be  a utopia in any society and some societies draw closer than others but it was better in times past than it is now. Differences in the number of rape cases recorded in times past and now, the influx of pornography in our culture today. One’s thought of immorality today even gets worse when you know the complications that can result from abortion “according to a 2014 study from the University of California,San Francisco that tracked 55,000 women for six weeks after their abortions (Scherker). This is a huge number considering the number of lives lost during these abortions. The entire population of the Puritan society can’t even match this number , yet in our society that much number of abortions were carried out in six weeks. The society today has been derailed by factors such as pornography ,rape and abortion from sustaining the high level of morality inherited from the past.

       WORKS CITED

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Pleasantville, NY: Reader’s Digest Association, 1984. Print.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1976. Print.

DeVaron, Tina. “At Colleges Plagued with Date Rape, Why ‘No’ Still Means ‘Yes’.” Christian Science Monitor. 28 Jun. 2011: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

Dines, Gail. “Is Pornography Immoral?.” Washington Post. 10 Apr. 2016: B.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

Day, Kristen, and Charles Camosy. “Abortion Rights That Go Too Far.” Los Angeles Times. 27 Jul. 2016: A.13. SIRS Issues Researcher.Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

Scherker, Amanda. “10 Abortion Myths That Need To Be Busted.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.